“Christmas is coming . What does your to do list look like ? There are Black Friday sales to go to , presents to buy and wrap , cards to send , decorations to unpack and put up , parties to attend , events to plan . There are queues  , stress , delays and family expectations. That’s the time of year it is , Christmas is coming and you might be exhausted all ready! 

However , in the midst of this , there is a season where we’re supposed to intentionally slow down to remember and celebrate Jesus and his coming. A time to put aside the cultural trappings. Since roughly 480 AD , Christian’s  all over the world have observed Advent . For the four Sundays before Christmas Day , Christians have paused to reflect on the longing Isreal had for their coming messiah . To prepare their hearts for Christmas and the incarnation and to deepen their longing for Jesus to return again. 

In Advent , there are four candles to represent four different themes .  Three purple candles and one pink one . The three purple ones represent Christ’s hope , his majestic love and the peace he brings to our lives. The Pink candle represents the joy of his salvation . Due to the busyness of the build up to Christmas, we can struggle to hold onto this hope , love , joy and peace. So as a parish we use Advent to do our best to slow down as we go through the Gospel and other lectionary readings each Sunday for the next 4 weeks  . In doing this we use Advent as a season of preparing and actively waiting for Christmas, in the midst of the frantic culture that often surrounds us during this time of year .  Advent is an Ancient tradition of the Church , but made new each year by God’s Spirit , that can really help us to focus our minds and hearts on Jesus as we prepare for Christmas and the incarnation. 

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